Eagles: Babin looking forward to putting Roethlisberger back' in time

PHILADELPHIA – Jason Babin remembers putting Ben Roethlisberger on his back four times in a Mid-American Conference game.

That was 11 years ago when Babin was setting sacks records with Western Michigan and Roethlisberger was on the verge of blowing up school and conference passing marks at Miami of Ohio.

It’s been awhile. They can renew their acquaintance Sunday when Babin and the Eagles take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

Advertisement

“I think that was one of his first games,” Babin said. “He’s a big kid. I’ve seen him break a lot of sacks, keep the ball alive and throw the ball and just make plays. I think with our defense firing on all cylinders this could be an exciting game Sunday.”

Bigger is an understatement. They don’t call Roethlisberger Big Ben for nothing. The obvious is he’s 6-5, 240 pounds. Looming larger yet are those two Super Bowl championship rings he’s earned with the Steelers.

This year has been challenging for Roethlisberger. He’s been sacked nine times in three games. The Steelers have lost road games to the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, of all teams.

Sandwiched between those struggles was a 27-10 demolition of the New York Jets at the Big Ketchup facility, where head coach Mike Tomlin is 9-1 against NFC teams.

While the Steelers don’t look a lot like the powerhouses of years past, they’re coming off a bye week enabling them to get healthier.

Tomlin said he expects to welcome back to the lineup this week three of his top players in safety Troy Polamalu (calf), outside linebacker James Harrison (knee) and running back Rashard Mendenhall (knee).

Even if Mendenhall isn’t all the way back from ACL surgery he can’t help but improve what’s been an anemic ground game. The Steelers are averaging just 2.6 yards per rush.

“He’s a very good runner,” Babin said. “But the thing about our defense is we’re fast and we swarm tackle. I think they’re looking forward to it. I’m sure they want him to be healthy. They don’t want an 80 percent Mendenhall. They want a 100 percent Mendenhall.”

In a word association kind of way defense and Steelers go together the way hot goes with cold.

Babin didn’t grow up on Steel Curtain. He was a fan of the Detroit Lions and Barry Sanders fan. But Babin has watched vintage film of the Steelers.

“They brought it,” Babin said. “They had intensity and they had passion. Back then when the defense was stacked like that it was definitely fun to watch.”

If the Eagles play defense the way they have in their first four games they’ll add to their growing list of believers this weekend. It doesn’t’ get any better than playing lights-out ‘D’ in Pittsburgh

“We want to make a statement every Sunday,” Babin said. “Whether we’re playing the Steelers, the Giants or Jacksonville, it doesn’t matter to us. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to throw our best stuff. We’re going to throw our heat early and often.”

Babin leads the Eagles with 2 1-2 sacks. He’s on a pace for 10 sacks, well below the 18 he put up last year.